Machine for brushing and polishing fruit and other objects.



J, B. HORRELL & AQS. BRYANT. v MACHINE FOR BRUSHING AND POLISHING FRUITAND OTHER OBJECTS.

' APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1906. RENEWED HAY II 1808.

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APPLICATION FILED JUNE 11, 1908. RENEWED HAY 11, 1908.

entra n snare r rnnr rib 5OHN B. HORRELLAND ARTHUR S. BRYANT, OF SANTA,PAULA, CALIFORNIA, AS-

SIGNORS, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO H. K. MILLER MANFG. (10.,OF GLENDORA, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA.

MACHINE FOR BRUSHING: AND POLISHING FRUIT AND OTHER OBJECTS.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 28, 1909.

Application filed June 11, 1906, Serial No. 321,272. Renewed May 11,1908. Serial No. 432,319.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN B. Herman.

and ARTHUR S. BRYANT, both citizens of the United States, residing atSanta Paula, in the county of Ventura and State of California, haveinvented a new and useful Machine for Brushing and Polishing Fruit andother Objects, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines or apparatus for cleaning, brushingand polishing fruit and other objects; and the invention has for itsobject the provision of improved means or apparatus of the nature setforth which will be relatively .inexpensive and simple in construction,positive and economical in operation, convenient in use and control,'andgenerally superior in point of efliciency and serviceability.

The invention has for its specific object the provision of an improvedmachine or apparatus of the character described, whereby scale, dirt, orother blemishes or foreign substances and accumulations may be removedfrom oranges and other fruit.

In carrying out the invention, we provide a rotaryabrasive elementoperative substantially in a horizontal plane and other onposed abrasiveelements combined with the rotary element and spaced apart to form achute or runway which maybe traversed by fruit or other objects, subjectto the abrasive action of the rotary and other elements. The

abrasive elements which are associated with the rotary .element havestraight upright abrasive surfaces facing each other; and they arepreferably arranged in rows of predetermined extent, a plurality of therotary abrasive elements being arranged beneath the same. The horizontalelements are rotatable upon vertical axes; and the rows of uprightbrushes have abrasive surfaces arranged in common planes, intherespective rows. The abrasive surfaces of the rotary elements comprise abrushing ,or abrading floor rotating beneath the upright brushes, thelatter being preferably adjustable toward and from each other and withrespect to the axes of. rotation of the rotary elements.

Means are employed for operating the rotary elements, and also. foradjusting the rows of upright brushes, permitting adjustment of therunways between the upright rows with respect to the axes of rotation ofthe horizontal brushes. Preferably, it is desirable to provide andembody in one machine, a plurality of series of horizontal brushes withtheir associated rows, of upright brushes, providing a plurality of:chutes or runways, all of the horizontal r0- rotating disk brushes,which may be oppo-- sitely rotated, the fruit or other object beinggiven a twirling or .twisting movement in its path to and from the axisof rotation of each disk brush. Each part of the surface is thus broughtinto frictional contact with the brushing or abrading surfaces,resulting in thorough cleaning and brushing.

The invention consists in the novel provision and construction offeatures and parts hereinafter described, disclosed in the drawings andfinally pointed out in claims in the drawings :F igure 1 is afragmentary plan view of means or apparatus embodying the invention,parts being omitted and shown in section for clearness of illustration;Fig. 2 is a detail sectional view, taken upon the line 2-2, F ig. 1;Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the means or apparatus shown in Fig. 1,upon a reduced scale; Fig.

. 4; is a transverse sectional view, taken upon the line ac -w, Fig. 1,and looking in the direction of the appended arrows; the showing beingpartly in section; Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of one of theupright brush walls; and Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view of one of thehorizontal rotary brushes and the associated parts and features. Figs. 5and 6 are upon an enlarged scale.

Corresponding parts in all the figures are designated by the samereference characters.

Referring with particularity to the drawings, 1 designates disk brusheseach com-' prising a body 2 having a brush surface 3 formingthe floor ofa chute, the side walls of which are formed of bodies 4 having brushsurfaces 5, 5, which face each other and extend across the top of therotary brush 1. Preferably, the rotary brushes 1 are arranged in rows 6of desirable length,

the brushes being placed close enough together to prevent objects fromfalling between the rotary disk brushes as they pass down the chuteformed by a row of rotary brushes and the transversely arranged brushes5, 5. Desirably, the transverselyarranged brushes 5, 5', are detachablymounted on 'bars 7 which are carried by adjusting frames 8, 8, .9, 9,transversely of themachine and of said bars and chutes, and are adaptedto shift the wall brushes 5, 5, of each chute independently of eachother, so that the chute may be increased and decreased in width, andthe way or opening thereof between the wall brushes may be shifted withrelation to the axis of rotation ofany or all of the rotary brushes towhich the chute pertains.

In Fig. l the wall brushes form two chutes, each having eight rotarybrushes to form its floor, and the machine shown is adapted to employtwo other rows of rotary brushes, one of which rows is shown, and thebodies of the brushes of the other row are shown devoid of their brushsurfaces, the parts also being sectioned to show construction.

10 is the frame of the machine.

11 is a shifting lever pivoted by a pivot 12 to the frame 10, and bypivots 13, 14, to the shifting frames 8, 8, respectively.

15 is a shifting lever pivoted by a pivot 16 to the frame 10, and bypivots 17, 18, to the shifting frames 9, 9'.

,From the description it will appear that as the fruit is fed into'therunways formed by the revolving brushes and the brush walls, the fruitis alternately acted upon by the brush surfaces and cleansed of allscale and dirt which is usually found on fruits. The rotation of thedisk brushes operates to impart a forward travel to the fruit over thesame by centrifugal force which could not be otherwise obtained were itnot for the fact that the walls are capable of being shifted beyond thepoint of center of said disks or disk brushes, whereby the fruit isprojected forwardly irrespective of the fact that the runways are on anincline. The inclination of the runway is immaterial since it is obviousthat the action of the brushes is sufficient to propel the fruit forwarduntil discharged at the outlet.

The straight parallel bars '2 and brushes 5, 5', carried thereby, formopen ended runways extending across and terminating at the extremitiesof the abrasive floor comprising the brushes 8. Disks 2 are provided onthe opposite side brushes 3, having means for rotation thereof, whichmay comprise, as shown a continuous rope drive 2. At the end of eachlongitudinal runway 1s provided eaaees a discharge opening or chute G;and the fruit or other objects traverse the runways to said dischargeopenings in the directions indicated by the arrows adjacent to the rows6 in Fig. 1

The operation, method of use and advantages of the improvementsconstituting the invention will be readily understood from the foregoingdescription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and thefollowing statement :-Any prime mover or source. of power may beutilized to energize the rope drive 2 causing rotation of the horizontalfloor brushes or disk brushes 1. The fruit is fed to the runways betweenadjacent rows 6 of the upright or wall brushes, and in said runwaysviolently agitated simultaneously with its propulsion longitudinally ofthe respective runway, result ing in subjection to effective treatmentby the rotary horizontal and fixed upright brushes.

The fruit or other objects finally emerge through the discharge openingsor chutes 6 in thoroughly cleansed and polished'condition. By means ofthe shifting levers 11 and 15 the shifting frames 8 and 8 and 9 and 9'may be manipulated to vary the positions of 'the rows of upright wallbrushes, with re spect to the vertical axes of the horizontal diskbrushes 1. The courses taken by the fruit or other objects through therunways, may thus be var1ed,'and the nature of the abrasive action ofthe brushes thereon altered as required.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent of the UnitedStates is 1- 1. Mechanismof the character described, comprising arotary. abrasive element operative substantially in a horizontal plane;and other opposed abrasive elements combined with said rotary abrasiveelement and spaced apart to form a runway extending in a chord of an areover said rotary abrasive element whereby objects may traverse saidrotary abrasive element subject to abrasive action of the entirety.

2. Mechanism of the character described, comprising a plurality ofrotary abrasive elements operative substantially in a horizontal plane;and other abrasive elements having upright straight opposed abrasivesurfaces arranged to form a runway extending in a chord of an are oversaid rotary abrasive elements whereby objects may traverse said rotaryabrasive elements subject to abrasive action of the entirety.

3. A fruit cleaner comprising a disk havin a brush upon one face, guidesabove said face terminating on opposite sides thereof to form anopen-ended runway across said brush, and means for rotating said disk.

i. A fruit cleaner comprising a disk having a brush upon one face, meansfor rotating sa d disk the same being arranged underbrush.

5. A fruit cleaner comprising a disk having a brush upon its upper face,means for rotating said disk consisting of a shaft projecting solelyfrom the lower face of said disk opposite said brush, and guides formingan open-ended runway across said brush.

6. A fruit cleaner comprising a disk arranged to rotate in a horizontalplane and having a brush upon its flat upper surface, two parallelstraight brushes supported transversely above said brush and terminatingon opposite sides thereof to form an open-ended runway thereacross, andmeans for rotating said brush, said means leaving the space above thebrush unobstructed.

7. A fruit cleaner comprising a row of disks having brushes upon theirflat surfaces arranged to form a floor, two parallel straight brushesforming a runway across said floor and terminating in a dischargeopening at one end, and means for rotating said disks, said-means beingbelow the level of the brush faces and leaving said way unobstructed.-

8. A fruit cleaner comprising a disk having a brush upon one face, meansfor rotating said disk, guides forming a runway across said disk, saidrunway having an open end adapted to continuously discharge fruit, andmeans for shifting said runway laterally to vary its position withrelation to the axis of the disk.

9. A fruit, cleaner comprising a row ofdisks having brushes upon theirfiat surfaces arranged to form a floor, two parallel straight brushesforming a runway across said floor. and terminating in a dischargeopening at one end, means for rotating said brushes, and means forshifting said runway laterally to vary its position with relation to theaxes of said disks.-

10. A machine for brushing and polishing fruit, comprising a frame,brushes rotatable on a vertical axis provided with a flat upper brushsurface and arranged in one or more rows, wall brushes having uprightbrush surfaces and arranged to form runways for said rows, respectively,adjusting frames to shift the wall brushes, and levers pivotallyconnected to the frame of the machine and to said adjusting frames,substantially as and for'the purpose set forth.

11. A machine for brushing and polishing fruit, comprising a frame,rotary brushes arranged in a row, each being rotatable on a verticalaxis and provided with an upper brush surface and wall brushes havingupright straight brush surfaces and arranged to form a runway for suchrow.

12. Mechanism of the character described, comprising a disk brush, meansfor rotating said disk brush, an adjustable abrasive runway transverseof said disk brush, and means for shifting the walls of said runway.

13. Mechanism of the character described, comprising a disk brush, meansfor rotating said disk brush, an adjustable abrasive runway havingopposed abrasive, surfaces andextending transversely of said disk brush,and means for shifting said runway.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands at SantaPaula,California, this 30th day of May 1906.

JOHN B. HORRELL. ARTHUR S. BRYANT. In presence of- C. C. TEAGUE, F.I:.'TITUS.

